Apple may soon add a car to its product lineup, if recent reports are accurate. Given that, we’re glad to learn that the leader of Apple’s design team reveals himself to be something of a car enthusiast. The New Yorker just published an in-depth profile of Jonathan Ive, the company’s head of design, who has orchestrated Apple’s design revolution driven by the iMac, iPod, and iPhone.

The insightful portrait details Ive’s work philosophy and his “blingy” personal style. But what we found particularly interesting is his appreciation for fine automobiles. He owns an Aston Martin DB4, and a good portion of the interview is conducted from the back seat of his black Bentley Mulsanne. It was only last year that Ive turned over the keys of his daily driver to a chauffeur.

“I’ve always loved the big old-school square Bentleys,” Ive told The New Yorker. “The reasons are entirely design-based.” Riding in the car with Ive, the author noted a parallel between the Bentley and the iPhone: “The [Bentley’s] hood barely sloped, and it met the car’s front end at a tightly curved corner that mirrored the iPhone 6 in Ive’s left hand.”

The report offers further evidence that Apple has potential to imagine an elegant car: Ive turns up his nose at the Toyota Echo and Camry, which he considers mundane modern car design. He also carves time out to make an annual trip to the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

He attends the festival with Marc Newson, his friend and now senior VP of design at Apple. Newson has a rich industrial portfolio of his own. One of Newson’s designs is the Ford 021C (seen below), shown at the 1999 Tokyo motor show. While some media outlets speculate that Newson’s chipper orange concept will be a blueprint for the Apple car, we think that’s unlikely.

Newson, though, is a serious car-head who made a film about his 2011 participation in the Mille Miglia. Newson spoke to The Rake [PDF] about it. “Last time, I drove a Cisitalia 202MM, which is a really rare, funny old car,” he said. He’s also done the event in a 1952 Ferrari 225S, which he described as “a much better car to do that race in because it’s got a much bigger engine.”

It’s good to see an appreciation for automobiles amongst the design leaders at Apple. While current speculation is that the company’s automotive entry will be a minivan-like autonomous car, it’s our hope that Ive, Newson, and the other Apple designers with an automotive bent—such as Julian Hönig, who has worked on Lamborghinis—can create a car that’s every bit as cool-looking as the company’s other products.